Dear Parents & Carers

Most of our students arrive to school on time so I want to start with a massive thank you to parents who are ensuring that your child has left the house on time however difficult that may be at times! We know that good punctuality and attendance has strong links to positive outcomes, something we are all striving to achieve. And, how students can fall behind quickly when lateness to school becomes persistent (See above)

It’s so important to be on time so your child does not miss any important learning. We are becoming increasingly concerned with the punctuality of some of our students and this school year we have seen a 100% increase in lates to school. I know you will agree that
this is unacceptable. This week I have visited assemblies where I have explained to students the importance of punctuality to school and internally to lessons where we are also seeing a rise in students not attending lesson on time.

As per our existing school procedure as from Monday 27/01/2025 we will be reimplementing the school gate closure at 08:37am ready for line up and we will make no exceptions to this, if students are not inside the school gates and on the playgrounds at this
time, they will be late. When a student is late, they will be given a same day lunchtime detention, and you will
receive an auto email to say they are late to school.

Fixed Penalty
Whilst we want to avoid fines at all costs it is important that I share with you information regarding fines and what could happen if your child becomes persistently late. Fines will be issued to parents if the child is persistently late arriving to school. Unauthorised lateness can trigger a fine issued by the Local authority The Penalty Notice fine is issued per parent per child. The first penalty notice issued will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days of the date shown on the Penalty Notice. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days (this includes weekends). If a second penalty notice is issued to the same parent in respect of the same child, the charge will be at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days. We want our children in classrooms and learning and I know we share the same views when it comes to this. We also must understand that we live in London and so therefore there will be traffic and this needs to be accounted for when sending your children to school. Please support the school and your child’s learning by having punctuality conversations at home.
Yours sincerely

Dominic Corey
Assistant Head teacher